Yuelu Academy

Yuelu Academy, on the lower slopes of Yuelu Mountain on the west bank of the Xiang River, is one of the oldest and most celebrated educational institutions in China. Founded in 976 AD, it was a major centre of Confucian scholarship during the Song dynasty and continues to operate within the grounds of Hunan University — one of the few places in China where ancient academy architecture has survived continuously in its original function.

The buildings are arranged in the traditional academic compound style: lecture halls, dormitories, a library, and gardens connected by covered walkways. The main lecture hall contains calligraphic plaques including the famous "Realising the Way" inscription written by the Song philosopher Zhu Xi, who taught here in the twelfth century. The gardens are particularly fine in autumn when the ginkgo trees turn gold. Entry costs around ¥20; the academy is open daily. It is a ten-minute walk from the base of the Yuelu Mountain cable car, and most visitors combine the two.

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A story
Yuelu Academy was founded in 976 AD and became one of the four great centres of Confucian learning in Song-dynasty China. At its peak, students came from across the empire to study here. Twice it was destroyed — once by Song forces retreating before the Jurchen invasion in 1127, once by a fire during the Ming dynasty — and twice it was rebuilt. In 1903 it was converted into a modern university, which became Hunan University. The academy still functions as part of that university's campus, teaching traditional scholarship within the same buildings where scholars debated philosophy a thousand years ago.